Also a great idea about increasing refineries in Java. That would take only 25 refineries. That's worth it. I think I'll do that. That would eliminate the excess oil and increase supply to 15,750 and fuel to 54,150 a month.

Hi Mike, I can't wait to read you AAR when the war starts.

I'm not sure that increasing refineries in Java is a good idea. Supply wise they will repay themselves in almost 3 years (1000 days) and they will be probably bombed to dust before that date. For that reason I never repair refineries outside of Japan.

Since you will probably have some of the existing refineries damaged during the capture, regarding the oil surplus you need only to arrange a small convoy to say Singapore (where you will also have the excessive Sumatran oil) for shipment to Japan.

hkbhsi (I'm not even going to try to pronounce that ), you're right. It all depends. But if the refineries are intact, then 25 additional refineries are required to refine the excess oil. I really don't care about the supply cost. It would be all about the 7500 excess oil a month that wouldn't have to be shipped to Japan. I know it's not really a lot, but that's a long distance for the oil to travel to be refined. That extra fuel a month would be used for fleet refueling in the SRA where the main body of the fleet will be stationed when not being used.

The fuel would most likely be moved off Java, but since it's in the form of fuel and not oil, there would be more options. As oil, only TKs and AOs can move it. As fuel, xAKs can also move it. I see TKs and AOs being at a premium throughout the war. Having to divert a large TK a month or dedicate a couple of 1250 TKs forever (just to get the oil to Singapore) may be an issue. We'll see what transpires.

Aaaah a Mike Solli AAR. WhenI bought AE I started Japan and the first sound I made after pondering a few minutes was "Ufff" followed by an "Uhm". Then I found your AAR and had at least some guidance where to start. Thanks alot for that and I am subscribed too :)

Btw I would convert some of the 14 Kn AKs into AK-Ts. They have reasonable load in troops and cargo and okish speed for movement and Invasion. The Tohos are very sweet for that and you can use some 12Kn ships instead for resource hauling for example. Remember you will have alot of troops to move after the intitial invasions. I also share your view on certain AK-L classes, I never understood why some players think they are throw away ships.

Ok, thoughts on increasing Java's HI. Java starts with 225 oil, 260 resources, 200 refineries, 60 HI and 180 LI. There's a deficit of 1300 resources a day. I didn't expect that, but the 180 LI does a number on the resources. Fortunately, there are a lot of resource producing bases nearby. I will ship resources from the following:

This will allow me to increase the HI in Java by 50 to 110 leaving the following excess for use elsewhere:

Monthly excess:

Supply - 15,000 Fuel - 47,400 Oil - 7500 Resources - 0

The supply will be used in Java as well as the surrounding small bases. Not sure about the fuel, but the oil will make the long trek to Japan.

Mike, I don't know if it will make a difference to your plans or desires on Java, but with the beta patches you can now turn off the light industry. Depending on what you want to do on Java, it could save a lot of resources for use in the HI, as long as you were ok on supplies.

Question: I think I read somewhere that if you upgrade an air unit, it now costs PPs. Is that true? If so, does anyone know how the cost is calculated?

It costs PPs if you change the plane to a different type than the scheduled upgrade path, therefore it affects only games with PDU ON.

For example if a KI51 Sonia sentai is scheduled to upgrade to the KI51B model and you upgrade it to a KI49 Helen, therefore going from 1E to 2E, you will have to pay 75 PPs. If you upgrade the same group to a different 1E bomber (Ann for example) you will not pay anything.

Question: I think I read somewhere that if you upgrade an air unit, it now costs PPs. Is that true? If so, does anyone know how the cost is calculated?

I noticed earlier today that the current PP total is shown when you change the model a squadron upgrades to; maybe that is what costs PP? That would make more sense, given that most squadrons upgrade anyway sooner or later.

The discussions above have caused me to change my resource/oil/fuel movement plans. I'm going to bypass Formosa altogether. It saves time unloading/loading and I no longer have to upgrade Takao to a level 7 port. Now I will have all my convoys out of Singapore move directly to Nagasaki. I will upgrade Nagasaki's port to level 9, to match Singapore. That does cause a new problem though. The escorts have a much longer trek. I'll have to figure out which escorts I will use for these convoys. I don't expect to use any TK/xAK slower than 15 kts. Time to start figuring what the monthly tonnage of all the stuff will be flowing into Singapore each month.....

hkbhsi (I'm not even going to try to pronounce that ), you're right. It all depends. But if the refineries are intact, then 25 additional refineries are required to refine the excess oil. I really don't care about the supply cost. It would be all about the 7500 excess oil a month that wouldn't have to be shipped to Japan. I know it's not really a lot, but that's a long distance for the oil to travel to be refined. That extra fuel a month would be used for fleet refueling in the SRA where the main body of the fleet will be stationed when not being used.

The fuel would most likely be moved off Java, but since it's in the form of fuel and not oil, there would be more options. As oil, only TKs and AOs can move it. As fuel, xAKs can also move it. I see TKs and AOs being at a premium throughout the war. Having to divert a large TK a month or dedicate a couple of 1250 TKs forever (just to get the oil to Singapore) may be an issue. We'll see what transpires.

Mike, be aware that cargo convoys that have ships with liquid capacity, when ordered to transport resources will also load oil if present at that port. Therefore it can be useful to use those xAK to haul resources back to Japan from a port where oil is also stockpiled (Singapore mostly).

Question: I think I read somewhere that if you upgrade an air unit, it now costs PPs. Is that true? If so, does anyone know how the cost is calculated?

Yeah, that's what I read. Do you have any examples? It's going to take a bite out of the PPs, which will slow down the release of LCUs out of Manchuoko. Just curious how much it will impact things.

I noticed earlier today that the current PP total is shown when you change the model a squadron upgrades to; maybe that is what costs PP? That would make more sense, given that most squadrons upgrade anyway sooner or later.

The discussions above have caused me to change my resource/oil/fuel movement plans. I'm going to bypass Formosa altogether. It saves time unloading/loading and I no longer have to upgrade Takao to a level 7 port. Now I will have all my convoys out of Singapore move directly to Nagasaki. I will upgrade Nagasaki's port to level 9, to match Singapore. That does cause a new problem though. The escorts have a much longer trek. I'll have to figure out which escorts I will use for these convoys. I don't expect to use any TK/xAK slower than 15 kts. Time to start figuring what the monthly tonnage of all the stuff will be flowing into Singapore each month.....

Does anyone have the tonnage for the 5 TK classes handy?

Any ship with endurance of at least 6000 will be able to make the trip from Singapore to Nagasaki without refueling in Japan. At the beginning you should have a few ES with 8000 endurance and a lot of PBs with endurance of 6000 and speed of 14 knots.

hkbhsi (I'm not even going to try to pronounce that ), you're right. It all depends. But if the refineries are intact, then 25 additional refineries are required to refine the excess oil. I really don't care about the supply cost. It would be all about the 7500 excess oil a month that wouldn't have to be shipped to Japan. I know it's not really a lot, but that's a long distance for the oil to travel to be refined. That extra fuel a month would be used for fleet refueling in the SRA where the main body of the fleet will be stationed when not being used.

The fuel would most likely be moved off Java, but since it's in the form of fuel and not oil, there would be more options. As oil, only TKs and AOs can move it. As fuel, xAKs can also move it. I see TKs and AOs being at a premium throughout the war. Having to divert a large TK a month or dedicate a couple of 1250 TKs forever (just to get the oil to Singapore) may be an issue. We'll see what transpires.

Mike, be aware that cargo convoys that have ships with liquid capacity, when ordered to transport resources will also load oil if present at that port. Therefore it can be useful to use those xAK to haul resources back to Japan from a port where oil is also stockpiled (Singapore mostly).

Alex.

Alex (much easier to pronounce than hkbhsi!),

Yes, I realize that. The Yusen-N and Kyushu classes are the ones that have liquid capacity and I love them for that (and their speed). Note that they both can convert to AK, but I will not do that to these classes. I plan on using most or all of the Yusen-N (18 kt) out of Singapore to to haul resources/oil to Japan. Then I'll use TKs to haul the remaining oil and TKs to haul fuel to Japan.

The discussions above have caused me to change my resource/oil/fuel movement plans. I'm going to bypass Formosa altogether. It saves time unloading/loading and I no longer have to upgrade Takao to a level 7 port. Now I will have all my convoys out of Singapore move directly to Nagasaki. I will upgrade Nagasaki's port to level 9, to match Singapore. That does cause a new problem though. The escorts have a much longer trek. I'll have to figure out which escorts I will use for these convoys. I don't expect to use any TK/xAK slower than 15 kts. Time to start figuring what the monthly tonnage of all the stuff will be flowing into Singapore each month.....

Does anyone have the tonnage for the 5 TK classes handy?

Any ship with endurance of at least 6000 will be able to make the trip from Singapore to Nagasaki without refueling in Japan. At the beginning you should have a few ES with 8000 endurance and a lot of PBs with endurance of 6000 and speed of 14 knots.

Thanks much. That's the kind of info I don't have right now. There are the 4 Shimushus that have 8k endurance and 19 kt speed. They will be used to escort the 19 kt TKs (12,800 capacity). The Ansyu-C PBs have 6k endurance but 14 kt speed. I guess I'll have to live with that until something comes along with appropriate endurance and speed to fit the requirements (if there is anything). The only ships that can do it at the start are the Hatsuharus and Shiratsuyus, but they are going to be KB escorts.

With that information now known, I will not use the Yusen-Ns out of Singapore. Their speed will be wasted. I'll now use the Kyushus, with their 15 kt speed escorted by the Ansyu-Cs.

The discussions above have caused me to change my resource/oil/fuel movement plans. I'm going to bypass Formosa altogether. It saves time unloading/loading and I no longer have to upgrade Takao to a level 7 port. Now I will have all my convoys out of Singapore move directly to Nagasaki. I will upgrade Nagasaki's port to level 9, to match Singapore. That does cause a new problem though. The escorts have a much longer trek. I'll have to figure out which escorts I will use for these convoys. I don't expect to use any TK/xAK slower than 15 kts. Time to start figuring what the monthly tonnage of all the stuff will be flowing into Singapore each month.....

Does anyone have the tonnage for the 5 TK classes handy?

Any ship with endurance of at least 6000 will be able to make the trip from Singapore to Nagasaki without refueling in Japan. At the beginning you should have a few ES with 8000 endurance and a lot of PBs with endurance of 6000 and speed of 14 knots.

Thanks much. That's the kind of info I don't have right now. There are the 4 Shimushus that have 8k endurance and 19 kt speed. They will be used to escort the 19 kt TKs (12,800 capacity). The Ansyu-C PBs have 6k endurance but 14 kt speed. I guess I'll have to live with that until something comes along with appropriate endurance and speed to fit the requirements (if there is anything). The only ships that can do it at the start are the Hatsuharus and Shiratsuyus, but they are going to be KB escorts.

With that information now known, I will not use the Yusen-Ns out of Singapore. Their speed will be wasted. I'll now use the Kyushus, with their 15 kt speed escorted by the Ansyu-Cs.

Mike, I'm not sure because I never use DDs to escort TKs (there are too few of them to waste in escort duty), but it is possible that even ships with 5000 endurance can make the trip from Singapore to Nagasaki. I don't have the game in front of me now, so I cannot check.

I have a list of all the starting escorts. After eliminating the modern DDs, there isn't much that has the speed and range (and DCs) to be used. About the best are 6x E Momis with an endurance of 3600. They probably will be pressed into service to help escort any of the 18 kt TKs that need to be used here. I suspect all or most of those TKs will be needed. I'm going to figure out what exactly Singapore will receive each month.

Mike, I think that Singapore has to be the biggest hub in the game; it will receive oil and fuel overland from as far as Magwe (if you capture it intact)and there will always be a huge surplus there.

Moreover I think that due to port size limitations, all that's produced at Palembang needs to go to Singapore and not directly to the Home Islands.

Regarding the overland movement of oil and fuel, my experience is that even if you clear all roads and RRs in south China, you cannot move anything overland from Singapore, but if you drop cargo at Hong Kong it will travel to Shangai if you build it to level 9 port.

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli With that information now known, I will not use the Yusen-Ns out of Singapore. Their speed will be wasted. I'll now use the Kyushus, with their 15 kt speed escorted by the Ansyu-Cs.

I think it's the other way around

Yusen N - 15 knots Kyushu - 18 knots

So you could use the Yusens in Singapore and maybe hide the Kyushus in some rear area port until you get some decent escorts (or use them in invasions and lose 2/3 of them like I did).

Mike, I think that Singapore has to be the biggest hub in the game; it will receive oil and fuel overland from as far as Magwe (if you capture it intact)and there will always be a huge surplus there.

Moreover I think that due to port size limitations, all that's produced at Palembang needs to go to Singapore and not directly to the Home Islands.

Regarding the overland movement of oil and fuel, my experience is that even if you clear all roads and RRs in south China, you cannot move anything overland from Singapore, but if you drop cargo at Hong Kong it will travel to Shangai if you build it to level 9 port.

Alex.

Alex,

I was unclear. Palembang will go to Singapore. Initially, I was going to send from Singapore to Formosa and then from there to Japan. I'm simply going to bypass Formosa.

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli With that information now known, I will not use the Yusen-Ns out of Singapore. Their speed will be wasted. I'll now use the Kyushus, with their 15 kt speed escorted by the Ansyu-Cs.

I think it's the other way around

Yusen N - 15 knots Kyushu - 18 knots

So you could use the Yusens in Singapore and maybe hide the Kyushus in some rear area port until you get some decent escorts (or use them in invasions and lose 2/3 of them like I did).

Oh yeah, I do plan on increasing the HI in Singapore. Not sure how much yet, but whatever it is, there will definitely be excess fuel and resources to feed it.

Singapore, Canton, Hong Kong, Batavia and Soerbaja are all candidates for expansion of HI, IMO. The Java HI centers are useful IMO, as they mitigate the amount of excess fuel needed for transshipment to Singapore or the HI. Sure, they'll come under fire from the Allies reconquista, but I don't think they'll necessarily be under fire earlier than Singapore is.

Don't forget the oil and fuel on N. Sumatra. Obviously, this can be shipped directly to Singapore.

If you're against the coded 'gaminess' of using China to move resources, will you also insist on putting your TKs in danger and moving oil and fuel directly from Rangoon to Singapore? If you feel strongly about not using the miracle movement of oil from Burma to Singers, then you would have no other choice but to put your TKs out at the bleeding edge of your zone to pick up oil and fuel 'the hard way' from Magwe production.